We are Daly

In 2014, Alex Daly founded a first-of-its-kind crowdfunding services company. She has since raised over $20M from 100,000 people worldwide, managing some of Kickstarter’s most groundbreaking campaigns. Dubbed the “Crowdsourceress,” Alex built a team that led the industry in activating communities to launch new ideas.

After hundreds of successful campaigns, clients began asking for support for their ongoing publicity and events efforts. These companies knew that to thrive, they needed a way to maintain their communities long after their campaigns ended.

How we work

As people who understand communities, we value strong relationships, especially the ones we have with our clients.

We get cozy

We immerse ourselves in getting to know you and your vision. We’re dedicated to really getting it, because that means we’ll be able to make the best plan for finding and engaging your community. To us, it’s personal.

We act with urgency

We’re used to the ultra fast pace of crowdfunding and we can deliver under pressure. We hustle.

We get our hands dirty

And we’re honest. If your website needs a makeover, we’ll let you know. If your social media needs a rehaul, we’ll tell you. We look at your brand from top to bottom so that you’re set up to succeed.

A modern approach

We come from documentary film, creative writing, and journalism backgrounds, which means we understand good storytelling. And in today’s world of saturated media, that’s important. But we’re never just interested in telling one story. We’re dedicated to getting to the heart of who you are, so we can tell many powerful stories that reach far beyond your community.

Old PR

Community-based PR

One big story

Many story angles

Waits for news cycle

Creates its own news cycle

Blitz of excitement

Sustained impact

Daly.PR

No one does PR like us.

Our approach comes from our background in crowdfunding, where we’re experts at winning people’s attention. When we launched a campaign, we couldn’t rely on the news cycle. We had to grab a community’s attention at that moment, no matter what else was going on. We became really good at that, and now we apply the same approach to PR.

Here’s how we do it:

We create trust

A community that doesn’t trust you doesn’t take action. So we tell stories that people want to read. (And we only launch them when you are ready. Need to think up exciting messaging for a landing page? Need branding feedback? We do that, too.)

We pivot

We won’t oversaturate a loyal community with different versions of the same message over and over. We find new angles and stories—plus new communities to talk to.

We curate intimate dinners, cocktail parties, panel discussions, and meetups where people can actually talk to one another. Communities are made up of people, after all. When those people are well connected to one another, that makes for a more powerful, energized community. We think that matters—and can have a big impact. Plus, our parties are a lot of fun.

Daly.Crowdfunding

We consult with teams who are crowdfunding to offer our unparalleled expertise. We listen to your needs, become immersed in your story, and formulate a packaged plan to get you prepped for launch.

Here’s how we do it:

We set up a series of hour-long calls. We can use them to talk big picture plans, or we can dive into the nitty gritty and edit your campaign copy, brainstorm press angles, discuss email marketing strategies, make introductions to the best crowdfunding platforms, conceptualize your video script and design assets, strategize exciting incentives, and more. Some clients ask us to prepare a project management sheet and custom press kit, too. We want you to get funded, and we will position you for success.

Team

Alex DalyFounder

Alex Daly is the founder of Vann Alexandra, DalyPR, and, now, Daly. She is the industry’s “Crowdsourceress,” a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2016, and a frequent speaker at festivals and events for designers, innovators, women entrepreneurs, and big thinkers. Having been referred to in the press as a “Kickstarter queen,” “crowdfunding guru,” and a “wunderkind,” she has managed crowdfunding and PR campaigns for Oscar-winning filmmakers, Pentagram partners, MIT Media Lab inventors, Neil Young, Joan Didion, and the female-led musical sensation TLC. In 2017, Alex authored her first book, The Crowdsourceress: Get Smart, Get Funded, and Kickstart Your Next Big Idea, published by Hachette. Originally from Miami, Alex holds degrees in Spanish, Philosophy Honors, and Film from Vanderbilt University.

Théo MünchSenior Project Manager

Théo Münch specializes in bringing creative projects to life. As senior project manager, he’s executed campaigns with Hong Kong watchmakers Anicorn, design doc legend Gary Hustwit, the creators of ELIA, the makers behind comp, and many others. He has managed PR for clients like Huddle, For All Womankind, Hello Mr., and Keap candles, and has played a part in developing influencer lists, backer communication strategies, and media relationships for dozens of clients. Before joining the Daly team, Théo worked as a research assistant at the University of Michigan’s developmental psychology lab, teacher for Freedom House Detroit, and volunteer for the Detroit Partnership, a community engagement organization. His first book of original poems, Corporal, will be published in 2019. Théo is fluent in French and holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and creative writing from the University of Michigan.

Ally BruschiPR Manager

Ally Bruschi is passionate about creating powerful, well-crafted messages for the companies, products, and people that inspire her. Before joining Daly as PR Manager, she worked as a book publicist at Avery, a division of Penguin Random House, where she led national and local publicity campaigns for acclaimed authors in the health, wellness, food, psychology, and business space. Ally has secured features for her clients in everything from The New York Times and The Atlantic to Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday and national NPR shows. And as one New York Times Magazine article put it, her press release “managed to concentrate the zeitgeist of contemporary female celebrity into its purest form.” Ally has previously contributed to Bustle, Plated, Borgen Magazine, and The Daily Meal. She received her Bachelor’s degree in political science from Kenyon College.

Partners

We are a small and nimble team so our clients always have direct access to us. With every job, we also build custom engagements with partners in the graphic design, film, copywriting, and social media spaces, so clients are supported by top-notch expertise.

Select clients

Our past and present clients are respected firms, fast-growing startups, and crowdfunding creators—some who are fresh off the launchpad and some who are preparing to launch. All of them have a powerful vision, prioritize great design, and offer community-driven ideas worth sharing with the world.

The Daly ripple effect

Standards Manual

We managed designers Hamish Smyth and Jesse Reed’s first Kickstarter campaign in 2014 to reissue the 1970s NYCTA Graphics Standards Manual. It became an overnight sensation, invigorating a niche design community and surpassing its goal by over 700%. Ever since, Daly has overseen the brand’s subsequent campaigns, publicity, and events—witnessing the incredible ripple effect of that very first launch.

September 2014

The NYCTA manual campaign goes viral and is fully funded by lunchtime on Day 1.

August 2015

The New York Times Science section showcases the NASA Graphics Standards Manual campaign on its front page.

August 2015

The NASA manual becomes the most successful graphic design campaign on Kickstarter ever.

April 2016

The Standards Manual online shop launches to support the continued demand for the manuals.

Hamish and Jesse open their own design office, called Order, and New York City’s first graphic design bookstore. New York magazine hails it a “Best of New York.”

May 2017

Fast Company runs “Order: The New Design Office That Spun Off A $1.9M Kickstarter Business.”

Heart

October 2018

Standards Manual hosts an oversubscribed book launch for legendary designer Michael Bierut’s Now You See It.

Joan Didion Documentary

+ view case study

For years, the producers of the first-ever Joan Didion documentary were self-funding their project. Then they approached Daly to get it crowdfunded. Within hours of launching, the campaign blew up, hitting its funding goal within the first 24 hours. Daly went on to manage the film’s social media accounts—growing them organically from zero to thousands of devout followers—and returned to manage community updates and press once the film was released.

October 2014

The Guardian, New Yorker, LA Times, NPR, Vogue, New York magazine, Time, Jezebel, and many other media outlets cover the campaign’s launch and success.

October 2014

The campaign is shared thousands upon thousands of times on social media. Daly orchestrates #takeovers by leaders in the art, fashion, and film worlds, including Laura Brown, Gia Coppola, and Christopher Niquet.

November 2014

By the end of the campaign, there is a lineup of newly interested investors and even offers of a book deal with the director. It is complete Didion mania.

The New York Times proclaims “Fashion’s Gaze Turned to Joan Didion in 2015.”

January 2016

Netflix acquires the film.

October 2017

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold premieres at the New York Film Festival to sold-out audiences and receives a New York Times Critics’ Pick.

Heart

July 2018

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold is nominated for an Emmy.

TLDR

“Crowdsourceress” Alex Daly gained a reputation for managing some of the world’s most successful crowdfunding campaigns. After these campaigns ended, clients began asking if her team could handle their PR ongoing. At first she said, No, thank you. She didn’t really like PR agencies :) But then she thought: What if we did PR our way—applying what we learned from crowdfunding over the long run? What if we took a quicker, more flexible, and more intimate approach? That’s how Daly was born. We offer PR, Events, and Crowdfunding consultation services. If you have a big vision, believe design is important to what you do, and agree that community is power, we would love to work with you.